This invention relates generally to a firearm cleaning apparatus for cleaning the bore of a firearm barrel, and more particularly to a cleaning patch holding device having a body with a protective coating to prevent a core material of the body from reacting with cleaning solvents.
When a rifle, handgun or shotgun is fired, the bullet or projectile is forced through the barrel at an extremely high speed by gas formed by the burning powder in the cartridge case. This gas generates great pressure on the base of the projectile and forces the projectile through the barrel. The high pressure is necessary as the projectile in most cases is made of a relatively soft metal such as lead or copper alloy and is a slightly larger diameter than the internal diameter of the barrel bore. The larger diameter of the projectile ensures that the projectile will completely fill the bore and will prevent any gas escaping around the projectile while it is inside the barrel. The prevention of gas from escaping around the projectile ensures the maximum utilization of the energy of the expanding gas that forces the projectile from the barrel.
As the projectile moves through the barrel bore, friction is generated by contact and abrasion between the side of the projectile or bullet and the surface of the bore. A consequence of this friction is the erosion of small amounts of copper or lead from the bullet as it passes through the barrel. The metal removed from the bullet, or fouling, is deposited on the surface of the bore. With repeated firing this fouling can build up to such a degree as to dramatically affect the passage of subsequently fired bullets. The build-up of fouling in the bore increases friction between the bullet and bore, eventually resulting in a gradual degradation in accuracy of the firearm.
Shooters employ a number of techniques to clean fouling from the bore. The most popular, and effective, cleaning technique utilizes a patch of cleaning cloth material soaked with a cleaning solvent that dissolves the fouling deposited on the interior surface of the barrel. The solvent-soaked cleaning cloth is normally placed in a special fitting, or holder, attached to a metal cleaning rod and pushed through the barrel bore. Two distinct types of holders known in the art for securing the cleaning cloth to the cleaning rod include jags and patch loops. A jag is cylindrically shaped and slightly smaller than the diameter of the bore. It features a sharp point on which the patch is impaled to secure it during cleaning. A patch loop is shaped similar to the eye of a sewing needle. The patch loop has a cylindrical shank with an elliptically shaped opening on the end. The patch of cleaning cloth is inserted through the elliptical opening up to its midpoint to secure it during cleaning. Both types of holders are typically made of brass because brass has the advantage of being softer than the steel of the firearm barrel and is less likely to scratch or damage the barrel bore.
As the solvent-soaked cleaning cloth is pushed through the bore, fouling on the bore that reacts with the cleaning solvent dissolves and is absorbed in the cloth. The dissolved fouling absorbed by the cloth gives the cloth a distinctive color. Typically, residue from bullet fouling is blue, green, or a combination thereof. The distinctive color allows the user to monitor the cleaning of the barrel bore by removing the cleaning cloth and checking for additional accumulation of dissolved fouling on the cloth. The more residue on the cleaning cloth, the greater the amount of fouling that is assumed to have been removed, or dissolved by the cleaning solvent. As a cleaning cloth becomes saturated with fouling residue it is replaced with a clean cloth. When subsequent patches of cleaning cloth show no further residue from the dissolved bullet fouling, the barrel is considered to be clean.
Solvents intended to dissolve copper bullet fouling will also react with brass jags and patch loops, because a main component of brass is copper. This results in patches of cleaning cloth having blue-green residue from the solvent reaction with the jag or patch loop material. Residue on the cleaning cloth from the brass jag or patch loop frequently causes the user to incorrectly believe copper fouling is still present in the bore and to continue cleaning the bore after all the fouling has been removed.
Attempts have been made to construct jags and patch loops that are not reactive with bore solvents by utilizing materials other than brass for jags and patch loops. Generally these attempts have not been successful. Plastic cleaning cloth holders tend to be weak and will break or bend during use. Steel holders, while harder than traditional brass holders, can easily scratch or damage the bore of the barrel. Aluminum holders tend to oxidize rapidly, allow the embedding of grit or abrasive material, and are easily bent or deformed.
Accordingly, there is a need for a cleaning patch holding device that resists chemical reaction with the cleaning solvent and allows the utilization of materials strong enough to properly perform the firearm cleaning function.